


Enchanted

by ashtin



Series: Part of Your World [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 2min RISE, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Disney World, Disney References, Excessive Amounts of Hand Holding, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, SEUNGMIN BEST BOY, SKZ as Disney Characters, Strangers to Lovers, first ride is hella made up but inspired by space mountain, how many times does minho blush, how many times does minho's heart go dokidoki, inaccurate cast member privileges, little to no angst, major gay panic, mild panic attack, so many fucking references i'm so sorry, the skz disney fic that absolutely no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2020-12-09 17:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20998538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtin/pseuds/ashtin
Summary: Minho goes on a friend-cation to Walt Disney World with his four best friends and ends up getting stuck on a ride with a stranger.The two hit it off after talking for a while on the ride, but the things Seungmin says and talks about make him sound a little suspicious. He leaves Minho with a promise to meet him along Main Street after the sun sets and asks Minho to wait for him there. And maybe,just maybe,Minho leaves the park believing in a little more than just magic.





	Enchanted

**Author's Note:**

> PROMPT #66: Person A gets on an amusement park ride with their uneven number of friends, and Person B is randomly assigned as A's seatmate. They bond throughout the ride and keep hanging out afterwards.
> 
> I kind of took the prompt and ran with it, but I hope it is still to the prompter’s liking.
> 
> No prior knowledge of Disney World/Movies/Things needed before you read, but it might help catch the hidden references throughout the story. 
> 
> There is one very mild and not very detailed panic attack while they're on the ride. Minho cries, but it's very very brief. Please read with some caution!
> 
> Big thanks to Cin for being a great beta for this roller coaster of a fic~! ^^

_ Disney World. _

Minho scoffed to himself as their group of five rowdy young adults inched forward in the never-ending line for one of Changbin’s ‒ supposed ‒ favorite rides. Of course, that spiel got old after they’d gone on at least  _ seven  _ or so of his ‘favorite rides.’

_ It just  _ had  _ to be Disney World,  _ Minho thought with a long and dreadful sigh. He carefully disguised the gesture as blowing air up toward his face and hair in a poor attempt to beat the dry, August heat of the Sunshine State.

Don’t get him wrong, Minho knew that he used to enjoy the pricey theme park when he was a child. His parents and extended family members had photo and cam-recorded video evidence of that much, at least. And he enjoyed going through the old video tapes and taking a trip down memory lane with his cousins when they would drag out the ancient photo albums that were filled to the brim with their past experiences. But somewhere down the line… Minho grew up.

He learned that life was unfair and that the _true_ _magic _he had grown to love during his childhood faded with time. Time kept moving forward and so did he, no matter how much he wanted to go back and freeze time when he was a happy child experiencing all the joys in life for the first time. Sadly, life was cruel in the sense that he was forced to grow up. There was no such thing as _Neverland _in the life he lived. No _Prince Charming _to heroically swoop in and rescue him when his boss was being a nightmare. And no, there definitely was not a _Fairy Godmother _around to turn his sad love life into something extraordinary, even if only for one magical night.

But throughout the years and the many changes Minho saw through them, one thing remained the same. One thing remained a constant in his daily life, through his flaky nature and panic attacks on spotty public transportation.

Well, that one thing being  _ four… _

His friends. Changbin, Wooyoung, Chan, and his precious youngest friend, Jeongin all befriended him somewhere between elementary school and junior high. And even though Minho didn’t remember  _ exactly when  _ the four of them came into his life, he’d quickly come to the realization that he wouldn’t trade them ‒ or any of the time he spent with them ‒ for anything in the world.

He  _ did  _ at least know that he and Changbin found each other and had formed an unbreakable bond between them before he met the other three boys.

And maybe that was why he didn’t have the heart to tell the younger boy  _ no  _ when Changbin had pitched the idea of taking a group vacation to Disney World, of all places. Maybe that was why he’d sat through countless nights of meticulous planning with Changbin ‒ both of them constantly in contact with the other three to make sure all of them would have the  _ best  _ time. And maybe that was why when Changbin insisted that every single ride they’d come across during their day at Magic Kingdom was his  _ favorite ride,  _ Minho didn’t bat an eye and took his place in line behind the rest of them.

Being the caboose of their train often meant that he got to interact with strangers behind them, which Minho didn’t mind too much. He was a social person when he wasn’t being forced to go somewhere and hang out with people he didn’t like or know. But in line at Disney World, nine times out of ten, landed him in front of families that were on vacation. It included a wide range of ages, too, but more often than not, he got to be the center of attention of small children varying between the ages of four and ten if he had to guess. And that was fine, Minho could easily entertain children with the permission of tired parents that were more than happy to pass the baton to a random young adult. They all started with compliments to his sequined Minnie Mouse ears ‒ a spur of the moment purchase he’d made the night before at Downtown Disney.

But this particular ride must have been the one in ten chances where the person behind him  _ wasn’t  _ a child. Or, the handsome stranger definitely didn’t  _ look  _ like a child to Minho. In fact, Minho had only been able to get a quick glance at the young man before he promptly turned right back around to strike up a conversation with Jeongin about the thematic decorations that made up the ride and its waiting line. He did his best to ignore the handsome stranger, but his best wasn’t good enough.

Had he been behind them through the whole line? Surely not. The five boys were closing in on the end of the line, now. Minho figured he would have definitely noticed the boy before then.

“It’s going to be so cool! Are you sure you’re up for this ride, Minho?” Jeongin addressed him after seeing that Minho’s attention was back on their group.

“I’ve been able to make it through all the other  _ wonderful  _ rides so far, Innie. I’m sure this one won’t be any different from those, huh?” Minho responded sweetly.

It was no secret that he’d been powering through his fear of heights and loud, fast-paced rides for the sake of everyone else, but this was the first time any of the other four boys bothered mentioning it.

Minho gulped as that lone fact sank in and he began to wonder if there might have been a specific reason their youngest asked such a question before this ride and not the other ones. God, he wished he had paid more attention to the rides he and Changbin picked out when they planned the trip.

“I’m just saying… It’s not too late to back out if you don’t think you can handle it.” Jeongin said while he pat Minho’s shoulder with a sympathetic expression.

“Jeongin, don’t say things like that! You know that’s just going to make Minho second guess himself.” Chan chastised the younger and adjusted the sunglasses on his face. “Wooyoung, grab my sunscreen from the small pocket of my backpack, will you? I can  _ feel  _ my skin starting to burn.”

“Chan… it’s overcast outside right now.” Wooyoung pointed out. “Plus, we’re almost to the inside part of the line, and then we’ll be really close to getting  _ on  _ the ride.”

Minho sighed at the two and wiped a bead of sweat as it rolled down his temple.  _ But of course _ , he thought, what would a friend-cation be without the those two quarreling?

“Cloud burn is real, Wooyoung! Sunscreen.  _ Now.”  _ Chan demanded. 

Minho crossed his arms and did his best to tune the two out. Instead he found himself thinking about his outfit and thanked his past self for making sure to look cute that morning. Still, he hoped he looked at least half as good from behind ‒ which, he reasoned with himself, he should. It was hard to go wrong with a white designer t-shirt under a cropped denim jacket tastefully paired with dark denim skinny jeans and a pair of baby pink Converse. However, he knew that the rose gold sequined Minnie Mouse ears were what really brought the outfit together. It was a shame that Minho couldn’t bring himself to turn around and show them off to everyone that stood behind him from the front- and oh god, he was thinking about Handsome Boy, again.

“Hey.” Changbin appeared in front of Minho, effectively blocking Chan and Wooyoung from his direct line of sight and distracting him from the unwanted Handsome Boy thoughts.

Minho looked down at him with a questioning glance. “What.” he grumbled out, not at all pleased with how their afternoon was shaping up to be.

“Don’t let Jeongin psych you out like that, okay? I promise I wouldn’t have chosen a ride I didn’t think you could handle.”

Minho nodded and brought a hand up to bite at his thumbnail, “I’ll be fine.” said around the nail. And that was the end of the conversation. The rest of the boys left Minho alone for the remaining time they stood in line in favor of joking around with each other. Minho took the time to himself to block out the occasional screams ‒ whether they were of joy or terror, he couldn’t tell ‒ he would hear as they closed in on the end of their wait.

“Oh.” Changbin said when the loading and unloading zone for their ride came into view. “I didn’t realize…”

Minho looked up and sighed quietly to himself when he saw the situation ahead of them. 

One riding car held eight people, which was a reasonable and doable amount considering their group only consisted of five, but the uneven number was enough to make Minho feel a bit uneasy. He could tell that Changbin felt the same way as they grew closer to the end.

When there were only a couple of cars worth of people left in line before them it became apparent that all five of them wouldn’t be able to sit in the same car, so they had to make a decision quickly.

Changbin pushed Minho ahead of him. “You go ahead, Min. I can ride in the next car by myself.”

Minho scoffed and maneuvered them so that Changbin was before him in line again. “Don’t be ridiculous. This is for  _ your  _ birthday. And I’m not letting Jeongin ride by himself, either. I’ll be fine. It’s only one car behind yours.”

Changbin frowned, but didn’t argue. He knew better than anyone that once Minho made up his mind, there was absolutely no changing it.

“Hurry up.” Minho inclined his head toward the loading zone. Chan and Wooyoung were already paired off and standing in line for one of the last rows of the next car and Jeongin was waiting by himself for the last row, looking back at Changbin and Minho expectantly.

Changbin held Minho’s gaze for a moment longer before he looked past him to address the stranger behind them.

“Take care of my friend, please.” He said to the good looking boy while giving him his best smile.

Minho wanted to roll his eyes. Changbin was being over the top, but he still appreciated the younger man’s efforts.

“Changbin,  _ go.” _

“See you in a few!” Changbin said excitedly before he turned around and skipped to the last place in line next to Jeongin.

Minho sighed and made his way to the front of the loading zone and purposefully ignored the presence of the boy behind him.

“Hey,” the boy spoke up once the people in front of them began to load into the next car.

Minho turned around to look at him and felt the urge to curse. He was still pretty as hell.

He raised his eyebrows at the boy after they’d stared at each other for a few long seconds.

“You might want to take those off,” Handsome Boy inclined his head toward the Minnie Mouse ears that were still sitting on the top of his head. “It would be a shame if you lost them on the ride, no?”

“Bye, Minho!!!” Jeongin’s yell had him turning his head to watch disappear from his sight as the ride took off.

Wooyoung and Chan waved at him and Changbin looked at the boy and then back at Minho with a thumbs up and a sly smile.

Minho stared back at them with a blank expression and hummed to himself before he turned back to the boy.

“Your friends seem nice,” he said.

Normally, Minho would scoff and give the other a smart comment about how much of a pain his friends were most of the time, but any words he would have said died on his tongue when the boy carefully brought his hands up to remove the headband from Minho’s hair.

“There should be a small compartment in front of or under every seat of the ride to store loose belongings. Just make sure you don’t forget it when you exit.” The stranger held out the headband and Minho took it from his hands slowly.

“Oh. Uh. Thank you...”

“My name is Seungmin.” The boy informed him with a warm smile.

“M-Minho.” Minho responded as the next car pulled into the loading zone behind him. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’ll get in first‒ that is, only if you don’t mind. I’ve been on this ride a few times before, and I can tell you from experience that the outside seat is a little more intense.”

“U-Uhh, sure.”

Minho stood sideways to let Seungmin climb onto the bench of the car before him before he stepped into the car himself. He quickly found the compartment the other boy had mentioned and slipped his Minnie Mouse ears into it. After a moment he said, “Aren’t both seats technically considered ‘outer’ seats?”

Seungmin stared back at him for a moment and laughed, his eyes forming into pretty crescent shapes. “I guess you’re right. I meant the ‘right’ seat, then. But when we go around the curves and loops, I’d definitely consider it the ‘outside’ seat. The left side leans in more, but I don’t know, it just always felt a bit safer to me.”

Minho blinked back at the boy in a stunned silence. 

“H-How‒” he stuttered out, but paused when the safety bar lowered over their laps. “How many times have you been on this ride?”

Seungmin shrugged and pulled down on the safety bar to make sure that it had locked into place.

“A few times.”

A high-pitched horn noise sounded, followed by a green light that flashed ahead of their car, and the ride set off.

It started fairly slow, but Minho knew better than to assume it was going to be a smooth ride all the way through.

“You sure do know a lot about a single ride, Seungmin.”

Minho jolted in his seat when the ride started up a steep incline. His heart immediately began to pound against his chest and he completely stopped paying attention to the ride’s thematic pre-story that played from the speakers in front of their seats.

“Not a fan of roller coasters?” 

Minho knuckles went bright white with how tightly he held onto the safety bar, and head snapped to the right to look at the other boy.

“R-Roller coaster?!” he gasped out, eyes blinking owlishly.

The music grew louder as the car climbed higher, and Minho found himself cursing Changbin six ways from Sunday.

“F-Fuck. Changbin Seo, I am going to  _ kill  _ you.” he muttered under his breath.

He fought to keep his eyes open as the ride inched closer and closer to the top of the first incline, but he was fighting a losing battle.

Minho had to give himself  _ some  _ credit, though; he wasn’t a screamer. 

He was more of the ‘scared shitless to the point that he doesn’t speak at all’ kind of scaredy-cat. And for that, he was thankful, because the last thing he wanted to do was to scream his lungs out next to the pretty boy he’d known for less than ten minutes.

But not screaming definitely did  _ not  _ mean that Minho was unaffected. No, his entire stomach dropped down to his toes the moment he was able to get a glimpse of what waited for them just beyond the top of the incline.

Minho shut his eyes then, just as the car tipped over the edge and began its bone-chilling descent.

Adult and children’s amused screams and screeches alike filled the cold air around him, but nothing was loud enough to drown out the roaring in his ears.

The first drop was fleeting, but the car only seemed to gain momentum from there, leaving no time for Minho to even take a breath to prepare himself for what was to come. With his eyes closed, he was able to  _ feel  _ everything at a more intense level. He despised the way his whole body would jerk to the side, the way his waist dug into the side of the car, and how the safety bar dug into his gut when they zoomed down a particularly steep decline.

What he  _ didn’t  _ mind was when he found himself forced to lean into Seungmin’s side, although he could tell that the other boy was making a conscious effort to keep himself out of Minho’s personal space.

After what couldn’t have been more than a minute into the ride, their car began to slow. And as it rolled to a stop, Minho entertained the thought of how polite Seungmin was. The boy’s considerate manners made Minho wish that he’d gone on such a ride with someone who would have let him hide his face in their shoulder the entire duration of the damned attraction.

“Ah… Shit.” Minho heard Seungmin curse.

“What? What’s wrong? Is it over?” Minho asked the questions in lightning succession. 

Minho opened his eyes for a short moment only to be met with a pitch black darkness surrounding him with spots of neon lights and LED twinkling 'stars' here and there. He supposed the music that had been playing from the car’s speakers was supposed to add to the overall ride experience, too. But it was silent, now.

“No. We’re only about halfway through the track, but the ride got stuck. They’ll probably turn on the emergency lights soon if they can’t fix it fast enough.”

“We‒ We’re stuck?” Minho’s breaths started to become uneven and his head felt dizzy. He already felt awful enough from being thrust onto a roller coaster unknowingly, but getting stuck on one was over a thousand times worse!

“C-Can we get out? I want to get out, Seungmin. I can’t stay stuck somewhere like this, please.” He begged weakly and closed his eyes.

“Hey. Minho, right?” Seungmin’s voice was closer than before. Minho imagined that he’d leaned over on the bench to speak into his ear.

Minho nodded his head rapidly once he remembered that the boy had asked him a question.

“It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here, and I promised your friend I would take care of you, didn’t I?”

Minho nodded again and felt hot tears begin to slip from his eyes and down his cheeks. “B-But I feel like I can’t breathe, S-Seungmin.”

“Minho, open your eyes and look at me.” Seungmin said, his voice soft and comforting.

Minho shook his head vehemently with his eyes screwed shut. “No. It’s t-too dar-k-k. Darkness makes i-it w-worse!”

He could already feel it becoming increasingly harder to breathe, and he would surely begin to hyperventilate if he kept his eyes open in the overwhelming darkness.

“Minho,” Seungmin repeated his name quietly, “the lights are on. Look.”

“Don’t want to.” Minho forced between rapid breaths and shook his head again.

“Can I hold your hand, then? You need to calm down and I want to help you.”

Aside from his sniffling and uneven breaths, Minho was silent for a few moments before he nodded.

In an instant, there was another hand gently prying his cold fingers away from the safety bar, and Minho let it.

Seungmin’s hand was big, soft, and  _ warm,  _ and Minho held onto it as if he was going to free fall if Seungmin let go of him.

Minho felt the other boy reach over and use his free hand to wipe away the tear tracks on his cheeks and fixed the bangs in front of his forehead. He let Seungmin do it a couple of more times; wipe the tears, fix the collar of his denim jacket, wipe his tears one more time, then softly… caress… his cheek. 

_ Fuck. _

“Think you can open your eyes, now?” Seungmin’s voice was just barely above a whisper, and it was  _ so  _ close. “We might be stuck here for a while, and you’re going to get a headache if you keep them screwed shut that tight for too long.”

Seungmin paused to wipe away one more tear that managed to slip down the same cheek he was holding, “I’m right here. I promise.”

Minho did his best to take a deep breath and cursed himself inwardly when he couldn’t do it without hiccuping pathetically.

Slowly, he peeked his eyes open before blinking up at the beautiful face smiling back at him.

“Hello there. You have gorgeous eyes, you know that?” Seungmin complimented him sweetly.

“You, too.” Minho said dumbly and promptly felt a blush rise into his cheeks as he scrambled to say something less embarrassing. “I m-mean, you have gorgeous everything.”

_ Smooth, Minho. _

“You are very pretty,” he tried one more time before he snapped his mouth shut.

Seungmin giggled and Minho thought he’d never heard a sound so pretty and comforting in his entire life.

“Wow. Really?” Seungmin asked, looking extremely sheepish.

Minho nodded. It wasn’t a lie. He’d been unable to even look at the boy when they were in line because of how attractive Minho found him, but there was no avoiding him now.

Seungmin pulled his hand away from Minho’s face to cough into his palm and cleared his throat.

“Wow. Uh, thank you. That means a lot coming from someone as pretty as yourself.”

“Pshh,” Minho scoffed.

“Can I ask you something?” Seungmin chanced just as Minho’s eyes began to wander away from looking at his face.

Minho knew the boy was probably trying to create another distraction for him, but he bit anyway.

“Yeah. Ask away.” He answered when all of his attention was back on Seungmin. Honestly, Minho could stare at the boy’s pretty features all day long if he had to, but he wasn’t so fond of such an idea while they were stuck in the middle of a roller coaster track.

“Do you believe in magic?”

Minho took a mental pause and played the sentence over in his head a couple of times to make sure he heard right. He then squinted up at Seungmin in confusion, but quickly softened his features when he realized just how serious the other boy was. He didn’t want Seungmin to think that he was some judgmental prick, but he was still rightfully befuddled. 

“Magic…?” He questioned skeptically.

Seungmin nodded slowly and hummed, “hmm, not like hocus pocus and witchcraft and wizardry magic, I guess… I mean the less superficial stuff.”

Seungmin paused as he struggled to find the right words. He pulled the corner of his bottom lip between his teeth and then slowly let it roll free ‒ unknowingly destroying Minho on the inside with the small gesture.

“Like… fate and luck. I don’t know…” He shrugged.

Minho wanted to smile at the other boy’s uncertainty and determination to further explain himself for Minho’s sake. He found the question itself a little odd, but kind of endearing when he considered their location.

He took a deep breath through his nose and answered, “I think there are certain circumstances where I find myself believing in luck. But if you’re referring to fate in the fairy tale ‘meant to be’ sense… Nah.”

Seungmin smirked down at Minho, “So you don’t think fate played any part in us meeting like this. None whatsoever?”

Minho waited a moment before he gave his answer with a shake of his head.

“No. This was just dumb luck.”

“Ah.” Seungmin said; the word leaving his lips like a small sigh. “But now you’ve contradicted yourself. Unless dumb luck is the only luck you believe in.”

Minho stared back at the boy, amazement clear in his features.

“How old are you?” Minho asked, suddenly curious.

“Twenty-one. May I ask how old you are, Mr. Skeptical?”

Minho rolled his eyes, but answered him quickly. “I’ll be twenty-four in October.”

“Oh, if you’re going to say it that way: I’ll be twenty-two next month. And I’ll be twenty-three a year after that, then I suppose I will be twenty-four the next, and‒ hhmmph.”

Seungmin smirked behind the hand Minho used to cover his mouth.

“You talk too much.” Minho said as if the sentence alone was enough to justify his actions.

Seungmin’s smirk softened into something much sweeter when Minho moved his hand away.

“Would you rather us sit here in silence while we wait for the ride to get fixed, then?”

“No.” Minho was quick to answer.

They stared at each other for a long moment before Seungmin finally looked down at the bench-space left between them.

“Your friends probably finished the ride before it broke down. And they’re probably hella confused and worried about where you are, too.” Seungmin said after another short moment of silence.

Minho’s eyes widened at the thought of how much Changbin worried over him. He knew the younger boy was probably throwing an absolute  _ fit  _ right about now.

“Oh my god, I completely forgot!” Minho stressed before he maneuvered his hand to his back pocket, and struggled when the safety bar dug into his side rather uncomfortably.

“Oh. Wow… Whoops.” He said shortly once his phone lit up and displayed the amount of notifications on his lock screen.

“Jesus.” Seungmin muttered under his breath when he caught a glimpse of the screen himself.

** _changbinnie:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -dude _ _   
_ _ -are u okay _ _   
_ _ -they said the ride broke _ _   
_ _ -are u fucking alive _ _   
_ _ -okay they just told me no one got hurt, jesus they should have said that from the BEGINNING _ _   
_ _ -but are you okay? _ _   
_ _ -is that dude being nice to you, he better be treating u like fuckig royalty _ _   
_ _ -oh my god i have your inhaler _ _   
_ _ -chan* has your inhaler in his bag _ _   
_ _ -fuck, they won’t let me com get you minnie _ _   
_ _ -dude i’m so fucking sorry _ _   
_ _ -i should have been the on who got stuck :( _ _   
_ _ -they said it could be 15 more min before its fixed _ _   
_ _ -now they’re saying ten min _ _   
_ _ -;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; the boys are dragging me to get food _

**[7 missed calls from ** ** _changbinnie_ ** ** ]**

** _minho:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -Changbin, I’m fine. _ _   
_ _ -the guy's name is Seungmin and he’s been great.  _ _   
_ _ -Go eat. I’ll catch up w/ you guys later, okay? _

** _changbinnie:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -you sure? :( :( :( _

** _minho:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -GO EAT _ _   
_ _ -love you~<3 _

** _changbinnie:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -fine… i am rly sorry tho. _ _   
_ _ -i owe u. big time _ _   
_ _ -love u more _

** _minho:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -damn right you do! _

Minho locked his phone with a sigh and looked at their surroundings for the first time since opening his eyes when the lights turned on. Immediately, and almost as if out of instinct, his fingers curled around the frigid metal safety bar when he realized they were quite a distance off the ground.

“Holy shit.” He said under his breath, causing Seungmin to glance up from his own phone to check on Minho.

“What? Oh, yeah. We got stuck pretty high up. But look to your left,” Seungmin pointed and Minho let his eyes follow the direction of the younger boy’s finger. “There’s emergency stairs and exits everywhere. We can get out if we really need to, okay?”

Minho took a deep breath and cursed himself internally when his whole body shuddered with it.

“Okay. It’s okay. C-Can I hold your hand, still?” He asked, blush sitting high on the apples of his cheeks.

Seungmin immediately held his left hand out and Minho gingerly threaded their fingers together.

“Thank you.” Minho whispered quietly.

A small smile played at Seungmin’s lips and his eyes were nothing short of fond in the way they looked down at Minho when he said, “It’s not every day I get to hold a beautiful stranger’s hand. I certainly don’t mind at all.”

_ “Attention passengers: We’re working quickly to get the ride back up and running. There should be Cast Members coming around to check on each car. Please remain seated until your car is checked. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.” _

Minho laughed shortly once announcement was over, “As if we have a choice to go anywhere with this damn bar in the way.”

“They might give us a choice to wait it out or to exit the ride from here.” Seungmin informed him.

The younger boy had taken to rubbing his thumb along the back of Minho’s hand. And while Minho didn’t know if it was something Seungmin had started doing intentionally or not, Minho didn’t want him to stop. The touch was comforting and Minho found that he really enjoyed the gentleness behind it.

In fact, he enjoyed it so much that he slipped his eyes shut and sighed out contentedly.

The next thing he knew, Minho was being shaken awake as their car began to slowly roll forward.

Seungmin chuckled softly before he whispered, “Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Did you have a nice nap?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Minho said as he sat up from‒ 

_ Wait.  _ Minho froze when the realization began to sink in… He’d actually fallen asleep… and on the shoulder of a total stranger!

“Calm down.” Seungmin said through his giggles once he got a glance of Minho’s horrified expression. “Don’t worry, you didn’t drool on me or anything. It was only for ten minutes or so.”

Minho pouted, but he reached back for Seungmin’s hand when the car started to head up yet another incline.

“Hold on tight.” Seungmin whispered into his ear, just as the ride reached the top of the incline that Minho swore was  _ much  _ higher than the first‒ or any of the other ones, for that matter. “And remember to smile for the photo.”

Minho had only seconds before two bright flashes captured his disgruntled expression, and the ride flew by after that. He figured the drop they encountered right after the ride had resumed must have been the climax since the rest of the ride was fairly smooth ‒ aside from a couple of twists and sudden turns.

And if Seungmin’s hand began to lose circulation due to Minho’s death grip around it, the younger boy never mentioned it.

“Don’t forget your ears.” Seungmin reminded him when their car finally pulled into the unloading zone.

Minho fought the frown that his lips threatened to pull into when Seungmin pulled his hand from Minho’s grasp, but the older boy only sighed and retrieved his Minnie Mouse ears from the compartment below his seat.

Though, upon looking to his right, he was surprised to see Seungmin waiting for him with one hand extended toward him.

“Easy does it.” Seungmin said softly when Minho stood and took his offered hand.

Minho ignored the heart palpitations he had while the younger boy helped him climb out of the car’s bench. He further ignored the voice in his head that began to scream that this boy, this stranger he’d known for not even an hour’s time, almost perfectly fit Minho’s ideal type in almost every way as they exited the ride and walked into the gift shop. 

“Wow.” Seungmin pulled them to a stop beside the monitors that were displaying the photos taken on the ride. “You still managed to look beautiful even though you were clearly terrified.”

Minho turned and squinted up at the younger boy. “Hush your mouth, Mr. ‘uwu’ peace sign boy.”

“I’m getting one.” Seungmin said decidedly before he abruptly let go of Minho’s hand to work the self-serve kiosk.

Minho  _ did  _ pout when he looked back at the preview screen and his eyes zeroed in on their linked hands. He wanted a photo, too…

“Let’s go before the next group of people exit. Don’t want to be in their way if they want to look at the photos, too.”

Minho nodded and followed Seungmin, pout still set on his lips.

They walked through the entire gift shop side-by-side, and Minho fought the urge to reach out and hold Seungmin’s hand every single time their fingers brushed against one another’s.

“You should text your friends and see where they’re at, huh?” Seungmin suggested eventually. They had just reached the exit of the gift shop, but Seungmin stood just to the left of it, keeping the two of them in the air conditioned building for as long as possible.

Minho nodded. He almost felt bad that he’d started to forget that they had come to the park together that morning, but only almost.

The feeling left him entirely when he read through the messages waiting for him.

** _changbinnie:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -minnie ;;  _ _   
_ _ -they dragged me halfway across the park to get food _ _   
_ _ -imu _ _   
_ _ -minniiiiiiiiiiiie _ _   
_ _ -they said you won’t mind _ _   
_ _ -ok so that seungmin boy tho _ _   
_ _ -he’s more than just a pretty face i hope? _ _   
_ _ -he better be treating you right _ _   
_ _ -is the ride fixed yet _ _   
_ _ -it’s been almost 25min dude _

** _minho:_ ** ** _  
_ ** _ -i’ll be fine. _ _   
_ _ -fuck u he’s amazing. _ _   
_ _ -enjoy ur food _ _   
_ _ -i’ll catch up eventually ig _ _   
_ _ -i can txt you if i absolutely need you dw _

“Those fuckers.” Minho cursed under his breath and pocketed his phone 

Just great. First he got stuck on a ride with a complete stranger for almost half an hour, and now his friends had practically abandoned him for food and probably rides for god knows how long. He supposed he could walk around on his own and enjoy the scenery and atmosphere for what it was while he had the chance. Or raid one of the countless bakeries he remembered seeing when the five of them explored the park earlier that day.

And of course, as soon as he started thinking of food his stomach growled loudly.

“Hey, uh…”

Minho turned around to see Seungmin looking down at him apprehensively.

“Would you want to maybe hang around with me for a while? My friends are all off doing their own things and I’m free for a bit.”

“Yes.” Minho answered without taking any time to think it over. His friends had already deserted him for the afternoon, so he figured he might as well make the most out of his encounter with the pretty stranger. And now he wouldn’t have to come up with things to do by himself. A very big ‘win win’ situation if you asked him!

“What, really?” Seungmin looked and sounded extremely surprised.

Minho raised an eyebrow at the younger boy. “I said yes, didn’t I?”

“I‒ Uh, yeah. I just didn’t expect you to agree so fast.” Seungmin explained before taking his bottom lip between his teeth, again. 

_ Fuck,  _ Minho thought to himself.  _ He’s so cute. _

“So… Wanna go see any Princesses? Or Princes,” Seungmin was quick to add the latter option with a shrug. “I don’t judge.”

“I like both.” Minho answered easily. “Like, Ariel and Eric? Why are they so fucking pretty?”

Seungmin’s eyes lit up at the mention of the royal Disney duo.

“Oh, yeah? I’m more into the Princes, myself. Which is convenient because I’m pals with a few of them.”

Minho snorted, “Pals, huh? Are you  _ pals  _ with Mickey Mouse as well?”

“Everyone is.” Seungmin deadpanned without any further explanation.

“Anyway,” the younger continued, “Ariel’s grotto is about halfway across the park, so let’s get going!”

“Wait. I want to put my ears back on.” Minho pouted as he fumbled with the thick headband in his hands.

“Do you trust me?” Seungmin asked after a second.

Minho quit fumbling with the headband and looked up at the boy. “What?”

Seungmin stared back at him and extended his right hand out to Minho. “Do you trust me?”

Minho blinked at him a few times before he slowly nodded his head once. “Yes?”

Without another word, Seungmin reached his hand even further and gently took the headband from Minho’s fingers. With his free hand, he fixed little stray hairs on the top of Minho’s head before he carefully situated the Minnie Mouse ears so that they were sitting neatly on Minho’s head. Seungmin combed his fingers through Minho’s bangs one more time and Minho bit his lip at the adorable smile Seungmin sported once he was satisfied with his work.

“There,” Seungmin whispered, eyes finally meeting Minho’s again. “Pretty.”

Minho felt his heart skip a beat before it began beating rapidly at both Seungmin’s words and their close proximity. 

He swallowed thickly and stared back at Seungmin until the other boy spoke up again. “It’s so crowded today, and I don’t want to lose you since I did promise your friends that I would take care of you… I- I’m not trying to hit on you or anything, but you should hold my hand.”

Minho’s heart forgot all about how nervous he was due to Seungmin’s closeness as he burst into a fit of giggles.

Seungmin wanted to hold hands? Was that all?

“Yes. Yes, we can hold hands. I don’t mind at all.” Minho managed through his laughter.

_ And even if he  _ was  _ hitting on me… I wouldn’t have minded in the slightest.  _ Minho thought to himself as Seungmin’s large hand took hold of his for the third time that day.  _ _

They set off hand in hand after that.

Minho took the time to really appreciate the scenery now that he was no longer pressed for time or worried about co-hosting their friend-cation. He let Seungmin guide him blindly through the park and smiled politely at each and every  _ ‘fun fact’  _ the boy fed him along their journey.

“Are you always this quiet?” Seungmin asked after a particularly long one-sided conversation. 

Minho took a moment to think over his answer before he said anything.

No, he wasn’t always quiet around people and places he was familiar with, but any sort of familiarity was neither here nor there during those particular moments. Not when he was wandering around a gigantic theme park inside Disney World with a stranger he’d known for just over half an hour.

Minho finally shook his head, but kept his eyes on the pretty decorations around the shops as he answered the younger boy. “No. I talk a lot more when I grow comfortable enough around someone.”

A low gurgling noise interrupted their conversation and made both boys stop in their tracks. Seungmin gave Minho a hard look before he glanced back and forth between the older boy’s face and stomach.

“Have you eaten recently?” He questioned, even though Minho was more than sure Seungmin knew the answer.

“Uh…” Minho absently began to swing their connected hands between them as he thought back to the last time he’d eaten that day. He almost grimaced when he figured up the number of hours in his head. “We had breakfast around nine this morning.”

“Oh my god. You don’t have any water with you, either!” Seungmin exclaimed. “We’re going to get food first.”

He began to drag Minho in a new direction, but the older boy dug his heels into the ground, forcing Seungmin to a stop.

“I- I don’t have… My wallet is in one of my friend’s bags.” Minho explained shyly. He didn’t want to burden the other with having to buy Minho a meal.

Seungmin tugged on his hand until Minho moved close enough that he was forced to look up into Seungmin’s eyes.

“I wasn’t going to let you pay to begin with.” 

‒ 

Minho had grown used to the heavily themed take on rides and gift shops throughout their first day that had been spent in Hollywood Studios, but Magic Kingdom went above and beyond by far. He thought about this as Seungmin pulled him into a casual restaurant that was designed to give off the feel of a saloon.

“Do you want to come with me to order, or would you rather pick a spot for us to sit down?” Seungmin asked, rubbing his thumb along the side of Minho’s hand.

Minho looked around at the seating area and shrugged. The restaurant was busy, but there were still plenty of options of places to sit for a party of two people.

“I’ll go with you.” Minho answered once he realized that he didn’t like the thought of being separated from anyone else today.

“Okay.”

Seungmin tugged on his hand and steered them toward the registers to place their order, but he paused before they could take their spot in the line.

“Would you rather something greasy or something on the lighter side? I don’t know how hungry you are, but I could eat two burgers right about now.”

Minho cracked a smile at that.

Seungmin looked skinny, but fit. He was taller than Minho by at least a couple of inches, but his face was far more youthful than Minho found his own to look.

“Uh, something light sounds good… but so does a burger, honestly.” Minho said indecisively. Really, he just enjoyed the idea of someone else ordering food for him and not having to make any decisions about it. It was also kind of romantic… so who could blame him for wanting a pretty stranger to order his food for him?

“Alright.” Seungmin stepped into the line and pulled Minho along with him, only separating their hands long enough to retrieve a couple of cards from his wallet.

“We’ll have a caesar salad, the cheeseburger, an order of fries, and… add a strawberry yogurt, too.”

The cashier keyed everything in with ease and looked back at Seungmin once she was finished. “Anything to drink?”

“Water for me,” Minho spoke up before Seungmin could even ask.

“Water for me, too.” Seungmin finished up the order and paid for it all when prompted.

‒ 

“Feeling better?” Seungmin questioned once the burger was demolished, - after being evenly split between them - a couple of fries lay pitifully at the bottom of the boat they were served in, and their forks and spoons clanked loudly against the salad and yogurt bowls.

Minho dabbed at his lips with a brown paper napkin and nodded. “A lot better. Thank you for treating me. If you give me your PayPal email address I can pay you back…”

Seungmin shook his head before Minho could even finish the thought.

“I wanted to treat you. You’re not allowed to pay me back. It’s not every day that I get to treat a pretty boy to lunch at Disney World, y’know.”

Minho felt heat rise into his cheeks at the compliment and looked down at their empty dishes in an attempt to hide the blush.

“I’ll go put away the dishes and trash and then we’ll be off, okay?” Minho could  _ hear  _ the smile in Seungmin’s voice.

Yeah. He definitely saw the blush.

Still, Minho nodded and was quick to help stack the dishes back on the tray that they arrived to the table on.

The older boy then checked his phone and groaned when there weren’t any new messages from the others.

** _it’s disney, bitch [5]_ **

_ minnie: u guys are seriously ok w/ me sticking w/ a stranger @ DW???? _

_ jeongin~: are you not having a good time??? _

_ channie: we’ll come get you rn if you want us to _

_ wooyoungsss: yeah min, just say the word _

_ bin: well ^^; they wanted to ride space mountain and i knew u wouldn’t want to… so...  _

_ minnie: Y’know what. _

_ minnie: I AM having a good time _

_ minnie: but thanks for considering my feelings about a ride NOW _

_ bin: I PROMISE I DIDN’T THINK THE OTHER ONE WAS GOING TO B ETHAT BAD _

_ jeongin~: bruh. binnie was a WRECK when the ride got stuck bc he was so worried about u _

_ channie: yeahhhh, we were already off of it, but Binnie wouldn’t let us breathe until we knew you were okay _

_ wooyoungsss: THank god you texted us when you did. i swear changbin was about to go back through the exit and find your car himself _

_ minnie: dramatic _

_ minnie: oh, seungmin is back. toodles _

_ minnie: i’ll meet up w/ you guys before it gets dark, okay? _

_ bin: have fun minnie<3 _

“Do your friends want you back?”

Minho glanced up to see Seungmin looking at him from across the table with his hands resting on the back of the chair he’d sat in before. He looked apprehensive and somewhat sad just from the very mention of having to part ways with Minho.

Minho’s lips pulled into a small smile and he shook his head, “They’re having the time of their lives waiting in long lines for other stupid roller coasters. ‘Told me to have a good time, and I said that I’ll catch up with them before it gets dark.”

Seungmin’s entire body relaxed as Minho spoke and he was smiling by the time Minho said the last few words.

“So I get to have you to myself until around sundown?”

Minho’s heart stuttered in his chest.

When Seungmin put it that way… What kind of fairy tale cliche had he been dumped into all of the sudden?! He was spending the afternoon with a gorgeous boy and even  _ flirting  _ with him…

“That’s actually perfect because I have somewhere I need to be around that time, anyway. Prior engagement with my friends…” Seungmin explained with a small shrug.

“We should get going then, huh?” Minho said, standing from his chair and rounding the table to stand beside his impromptu guide.

Seungmin’s gaze was just slightly higher than Minho’s, and Minho would be lying through his teeth if he said butterflies didn’t soar around his stomach when he saw the way Seungmin’s eyelids fluttered when he looked down to meet Minho’s gaze.

_ It’s only temporary.  _ Minho’s brain cut in as it attempted to drown out the sound of his heart thumping in his chest when Seungmin offered out his hand for Minho to take.

_ There’s no such thing as magical happily ever afters,  _ it tried again as Minho stared at the other boy’s extended hand.

Damn, he had long and pretty fingers, too?! Long, pretty fingers that Minho remembered to be extremely soft and warm around his own just an hour or so before.

_ Fuck it.  _ His heart screamed over the voice of his skeptic brain and took Seungmin’s hand just as the younger boy started to look hesitant.

Minho quickly threaded their fingers together and began to pull Seungmin toward the exit to avoid looking at the younger boy’s face.

Or, he was trying to hide the  _ very  _ obvious blush he sported due to the sudden skinship, but he’d blame it on being eager to meet Prince Eric if Seungmin bothered to ask him.

“Minho…” Seungmin tugged them to a stop and chuckled at Minho’s confused expression. “I appreciate you taking charge, and I’m sure that you’re just excited… But you’re leading us the wrong way. That,” Seungmin pointed in the direction Minho had taken upon exiting the restaurant, “goes back to Frontierland. We need to go all the way to Fantasyland.”

“Oh.” Minho said, lips forming into a perfect and adorable ‘o’ shape. He turned on his heel and began pulling them in the opposite direction, purposefully ignoring the gigantic puppy-like smile on Seungmin’s face.

For the most part, the two of them walked at a leisurely pace, stopping occasionally when Minho wanted to take photos of the pretty scenery or a quick selfie. He particularly loved the bright blue hue of the river and stopped to take photos of the riverboat as it floated by. He then patiently waited for the vessel to pass so he could take selfies in front of the glittering water.

“Get in the shot.” Minho said with a shy grin when he spied Seungmin watching him take the series of selfies.

“Re-Really?” Seungmin asked, blinking rapidly and face full of disbelief.

“Yes, really. I want to have something to remember you by.”

_ Wow.  _ Minho thought.  _ Way to break your own heart. _

Still, his smile was genuine when their faces were squished together in order to fit on the screen. They ended up taking over a dozen and Minho found himself scrolling through them with the same genuine smile on his lips.

“Delete the ones where I look ugly!" Seungmin demanded with a pout after he caught glimpses of a few blurry shots.

"Hmm," Minho's heart leapt in his chest, but he said the next sentence before his brain to mouth filter could catch up.

"I guess I can't delete any of them, then." He said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders and prayed that Seungmin couldn't see the blush creeping up his neck.

“Pffft, come on.” Seungmin rolled his eyes and took Minho’s hand into his own, once more.

Minho let himself be tugged away from the scenic spot with a wide smirk on his lips after seeing the light pink that dusted the apples of the younger boy’s cheeks.

“Ooh, wanna go on The Haunted Mansion ride?” Seungmin asked, squeezing Minho’s hand.

They’d come up on the attraction, and while Minho knew that the movie the ride was based off of was more on the comedy side, the title alone had him feeling wary.

Minho figured the wariness must have shown in his expression by the way Seungmin began giggling at him.

“Maybe not?” They younger boy rubbed his thumb against the back of his hand, again. “I promise it really isn’t scary. Actually, it’s pretty kid friendly.”

Minho stayed silent when they paused by the entrance to the ride’s line. If going on the ride meant being able to spend more quality time with Seungmin without having to walk around, he might make an exception. 

“But…” Seungmin continued before he could come up with a definitive answer, “it does have a history of breaking down or getting stuck for long periods of time pretty frequently.”

Minho’s face contorted to express his confusion at the younger’s words. How on earth did Seungmin  _ know  _ these things?

“I’ll leave it up to you since we’re kind of on a time crunch now. But hey, at least the sun doesn’t set as early in the summertime!”

Minho bit at his cheek as he weighed the options and Seungmin took to browsing his phone, leaving the decision completely up to Minho.

The older boy stared at the line and gauged the wait time… It wasn’t  _ terrible.  _ But if the ride was to become stuck or break down like it was known to do…

Minho sighed.

“What if we finish going to see the Prince first and then come back to ride whatever we want with our remaining time?” He suggested.

Seungmin looked up from his phone with a soft smile that had Minho’s heart acting up, once again.

“Sounds like a great plan to me. I can fix up some Fast Passes for us, too. It’ll only take a minute!” Seungmin went back to his phone without another word and Minho took the opportunity to take a few candid shots of the boy.

He briefly wondered whether or not the photo ‘reminders’ would actually be helpful later on. Would he look back on them and reminisce with a smile? Or would he very presence of them in his phone be a pitiful reminder of  _ ‘what could have been’? _

‒ 

“What about  _ ‘it’s a small world’?”  _ Seungmin spoke up as they passed the entrance to another ride.

“Been there.” Minho deadpanned with a pained expression. “Changbin’s first choice, actually. I’ve never had a headache so early in the day from a damn  _ song.  _ ”

Seungmin burst into laughter and was just about to start singing the cursed tune when the blade of a fake sword appeared at his throat.

"My, my, what have we here?"

Seungmin's smile turned panicked for a split second before he schooled his features, but Minho had caught it all. 

Minho watched with his own horrified expression as the infamous pirate pressed forward, looking down at their intertwined hands with a terrifying grin.

"Nothing of interest to the likes of you, Pirate."

"Aye… That's Captain Hook, to you, young lad!"

The actor lowered his sword and looked between them with the same hideous expression.

Minho knew he was acting, but the man did a damn good job at scaring him to the point that he felt compelled to hide behind Seungmin.

"Ah, young love. What a sight it is."

Minho didn't even have time to register the burning sensation on his ears at the actor's implications before  _ another  _ actor shoved his way between the couple and Captain Hook. 

Minho needed someone to pinch him, because surely…  _ surely  _ he was dreaming. There was no way he was caught in the middle of a possible altercation between  _ Captain Hook  _ and  _ Peter- _ fucking _ -Pan.  _

“Get back, Pirate!” Peter yelled before the short male turned his head to the side and spoke to Minho and Seungmin behind him. “I’ve got him distracted, boys. Make a run for it while you can!”

Minho’s fingers curled around the upper part of Seungmin’s arm and he took a step back, but Seungmin held his ground.

“I’m not afraid of some stinky old pirate.” He said with a straight face. 

Yes, Minho thought. He had to be dreaming. Why was Seungmin so calm? How often did the younger boy frequent the park to not find the situation anything but extremely bizarre?! And to play right along as if he’d done so a million times before? Surely, Minho had to be caught in a dream that he would wake up from any moment now.

_ “Old?!”  _ Captain Hook screeched, the noise causing Minho to flinch. He hid his face in Seungmin’s back when the heads of multiple other park-goers turned to watch the commotion.

_ “What the fuck?”  _ Minho whispered against the back of Seungmin’s shirt.

“Well, you’re far from being the epitome of youth, Hook. Now, move along while I’m asking nicely.”

Minho could only hear the voices since he was still far too embarrassed to look up, but he figured it was safe to assume that the scarier actor had backed off from the way Seungmin’s entire body relaxed against Minho.

When he  _ did  _ finally take the time to slowly peek his eyes over Seungmin’s shoulder, Minho was met with the younger actor that played Peter Pan staring right back at him.

“Are you shy?” The shorter boy asked curiously, eyes wide and full of wonder. Whether it was fake or genuine, Minho wasn’t sure. The kid was a great actor, but he had no patience as he continued his questions before Minho had a chance to answer the first.

“Why were you hiding in your buddy’s back, huh?” Peter asked, pressing forward and sneaking around Seungmin to get a full view of Minho.

“I- I, uh‒”

Seungmin took Minho’s hand and cleared his throat. “Minho doesn’t like stinky pirates. Isn’t that right?”

Seungmin glanced at him with a reassuring smile and Minho felt his heart lurch at the sweet gesture.

“Yeah.” Minho managed to breathe out once he recovered from nearly making major heart eyes at the younger boy.

“Well, he’s gone now! No need to be shy! Say,” Peter Pan eyed their joined hands curiously. And Minho may have imagined it, but he swore he heard Seungmin sigh exasperatedly before the short actor continued. “Why are you holding  _ his  _ hand? You sure are pretty, and  _ I’m  _ pretty! Don’t you wanna hold my hand instead?”

The actor continued to spew off question after exhausting question and Minho was finding it hard to keep up. Thankfully, Seungmin seemed to have the same thoughts.

“I think we’ll be on our way now. Lovely chat, Peter.” Seungmin tried with a forced smile.

“Say, how’d ya know my name, Seung‒ uh, sir?  _ Are  _ you a ‘sir’? No. You’re still just a boy like me, huh? You know, it sucks to be a grown up. I’ve seen a few grown ups today, but none of them looked very happy.”

Forget keeping up with him! Minho was starting to wonder if the boy ever took a second or two to  _ breathe  _ while he talked. It sure didn’t sound like it.

“Did you try to make them smile?” Seungmin asked before he squeezed Minho’s hand and started walking forward at a slow pace.

“Of course I tried!” Peter exclaimed. “I even played hide and seek to surprise them, first! Grown ups love surprises… usually.”

Minho finally gave the boy a once over on his own accord as the three of them passed under the shade of a large tree.

The costume he wore looked just like the standard Peter Pan outfit that you’d find at any department store in the month of October, but up close Minho was able to see the beautiful details that made it special… all the way down to the dark green tights. The boy’s cheeks were round and childlike, and Minho found that they really brought the whole look together, as well as the act. He could easily see why the boy played the part, and he played it perfectly well.

“Say, do you happen to have any plans for the evening?” Peter asked while walking backwards a few feet ahead of the couple.

Minho shook his head while Seungmin nodded and said, “I have to meet up with some pals later.”

Minho’s lips pulled into the tiniest frown at the reminder that he would eventually have to separate from Seungmin.

“Well then have fun with them! But if  _ you  _ don’t have plans, you should hang out with me! I’ll have the fairies and the lost boys… we’ll have a whole party!” Peter rambled on and the three of them continued to walk at a leisurely pace until someone called out to the actor.

“Speaking of fairies…” Peter mumbled with a small smile as the source of the voice drew closer.

Minho stared in awe as another actor marched up to Peter with a glare set into his otherwise-beautiful features. Blonde hair, blue eyes ‒ thanks to a bright pair of contact lenses, no doubt ‒ and a mess of freckles made up the adorable face of who Minho could only assume was a fairy character of sorts.

“Ah,” Peter signaled for Minho and Seungmin to wait a moment before he addressed the fairy. “Terence… To what do I owe the pleasure on this gorgeous summer afternoon?”

_ ‘Terence’  _ sighed and moved his face in a way that had the sunlight that was  _ just  _ peeking through the shade hit his cheeks.

A soft gasp left Minho's lips and he stared unabashedly at the fairy’s cheeks: the freckles were  _ glittering  _ in the sunlight. And while Minho knew that it was just the affects of good makeup and the right lighting, he was captivated!

“He’s pretty, huh?” Seungmin whispered in Minho’s ear and Minho quickly looked to the younger.

“Unworldly pretty.” Minho confirmed, his tone light and wistful.

Seungmin stared into his eyes for a moment, but it was long enough for Minho to sense a bit of uncertainty within Seungmin’s gaze. He was about to ask if the younger boy was okay, but he was unable to get even one syllable out of his mouth before Seungmin finally spoke up again.

“You’re prettier.”

Minho’s cheeks instantly filled with a burning blush that he couldn’t even  _ think  _ of hiding with how Seungmin still stared at him.

_ Please, please look away before I have a damn heart attack.  _ Minho pleaded internally, but Peter and his fairy friend came to his rescue seconds later.

“We’ll take our leave now, boys. Don’t forget: party tonight!” 

“Quick, how do I tell Peter Pan that I’m busy later?” Minho mumbled out of the corner of his mouth as he and Seungmin waved their goodbyes to the other two.

Minho could feel Seungmin’s grip on his hand tighten the slightest bit before he asked, “You have plans tonight?”

They resumed walking in their original direction and Minho shook his head while he bit back a smile at the slight bit of worry in Seungmin’s voice.

“No. Not unless the guys want to do something specific. But we’re supposed to be here until closing time. I do know  _ that.”  _

“Ah.” Was the only response Minho received from the other.

Unsatisfied, Minho decided to ask the question himself.

“What about you, Mr. Know-It-All? Do you and your friends have any plans?”

Seungmin rolled his eyes at the nickname and smiled politely at a cast member as they passed by before he answered.

“I have to meet up with my group by six-ish. It’s not clear as to what we’re going to do beyond that, but I suppose they’ll have some kind of schedule to keep us busy for the rest of the night.”

Minho’s heart fell.

Part of him had hoped that the younger boy would have said no, he didn’t have plans and Minho would have been quick to suggest that Seungmin just tagged along with Minho and his friends. But on second thought, maybe it was better that Seungmin was busy. The last thing Minho needed was for his friends to embarrass him in front of someone he liked.

... _ Did  _ he like Seungmin?

He’d only known the boy for an hour or so, but he definitely felt  _ something.  _ But whether it was anything he’d ever act on, Minho wasn’t so sure.

For starters, he would need to ask for Seungmin’s number. But what if the other boy didn’t feel the same way? What if he was just a friendly person who liked to give out compliments like a vending machine? What if he enjoyed holding hands with every one of his friends on a regular basis? And even if Seungmin  _ did  _ end up being interested in Minho, he surely had no idea where Seungmin was from. Was he just visiting and on vacation from somewhere out of state? Possibly even from a whole different country?

Minho only lived about an hour’s drive out. He figured that the best case scenario would be if Seungmin lived nearby, or at least in state.

_ This is temporary, Minho. Get a grip on yourself. Happily ever afters only exist in fairy tales! _

“Minho?” Seungmin’s voice pulled him away from his bizarre wishful thinking.

Minho looked over to him and blinked in rapid succession as if it would help clear away his unwanted thoughts.

“Y-Yes?”

“I asked if you wanted me to talk with the characters first or if you wanted to do it first. We’re almost to their meet-up area and there isn’t much of a line for them at the moment.” Seungmin pointed ahead of them, and sure enough, there they were.

Ariel radiated beauty, even in her casual land attire. Her long, vibrant red hair fell into loose curls that contrasted beautifully with the blues of her dress and the bow holding back a few of the locks. And while Minho found her fairly attractive, he felt the need to do a double take when his eyes landed on the actor that played Prince Eric.

“Holy shit.” Minho cursed, causing Seungmin to laugh loudly.

“Can we go together?” Minho asked once Seungmin collected himself. From their short time together, Minho could tell that Seungmin was a composed and well spoken person, and Minho knew that he’d be nothing more than a stuttering mess if he had to go up and talk to the Prince by himself. Having Seungmin with him would at least take some of the Prince’s attention off of Minho.

“Of course.” Seungmin answered with a smile that looked almost pained.

“My, what spiffy young gentlemen we have here!” The cast member playing Ariel exclaimed in a loud animated voice.

“Wow. You’re pretty.” Minho stated dumbly.

Yeah. Seungmin was doing  _ wonders  _ at keeping him from looking like a fool.

“Why thank you!” Ariel answered happily.

Seungmin snorted beside him. “I think he was addressing his Highness over here, Princess Ariel.” The younger explained when the Princess looked at him questioningly.

“I- I’m…” Minho stumbled over his words, but both the Princess  _ and  _ Prince began to laugh genuine laughs that were much unlike the staged laughs Minho had grown accustomed to hearing around the park.

“Well that certainly wouldn’t be the first time someone preferred Eric over myself.” Ariel joked good-naturedly. “Would you like me to step away for the photo, then? I know he likes to keep his male fans to himself sometimes.”

“N-No! Don’t get me wrong, I like you b-both like, a lot. But he’s just… wow.” Minho sputtered out.

“You’re not so bad yourself,  _ stranger.”  _ The Prince complimented him.

The words alone sent Minho to another planet, so he completely missed the silent conversation Seungmin and the Prince had right in front of him.

“Well, we should take the photos so you two can be on your merry way! We would hate to keep you from your  _ busy schedule.”  _ The Prince said, eyeing Seungmin once more.

“There’s no rush.” Seungmin said through his teeth and matched his gaze with the Prince.

Minho looked between the two of them with expression that was a mixture of confusion and caution. He wasn’t quite sure of the mood he was sensing between the two taller boys, but he decided that he’d rather  _ not  _ come between them. In fact, Minho had decided to stop questioning the weirder things he kept encountering from the very moment he first made eye contact with the pretty stranger.

Minho looked up when he realized he’d been staring straight at the opening of the Prince’s white dress shirt. Instead, he studied the taller boy’s face and the teasing expression he wore while he spoke with Seungmin.

The actor was gorgeous ‒ breathtakingly so.

He had midnight black hair with his fringe parted down the middle forming a heart shape over his forehead. Minho found it especially pretty when the Prince’s hair caught the sunlight  _ just right  _ which caused it to look dark blue instead of the original black color. Further down his face Minho spied a beauty mark dotted just under one of the Prince’s sleek eyes, below them sat a perfect nose, followed by plump rosy lips, and‒ 

“Minho?”

Seungmin’s voice had him blinking back to reality and he instinctively reached out for the younger boy’s hand when he saw the hints of frustration on his face.

“What?” Minho whispered, “is something wrong?” He asked worriedly.

Seungmin’s face immediately softened at Minho’s touch and Minho would swear he saw almost all of the tension leave Seungmin’s body when he threaded their fingers together.

What Minho  _ didn’t  _ see was the shit-eating grin the Prince wore as he eyed the pair’s connected hands before the Princess spoke up.

“Shall we have the photos taken now? I’d love to be part of the beautiful memories you two are making.” She suggested with the sweetest of smiles.

“Yeah.” Minho nodded and tightened his grip on Seungmin’s hand. “Let’s take it together.”

The shy smile that Minho received in return was completely worth the way his heart had dropped into his stomach when he’d said the words to the younger. It was even more worth it when Minho saw the blush creeping into Seungmin’s ears before they posed for a couple of photos with the cast members.

“They were nice.” Minho mused a few moments later when he and Seungmin had walked a considerable distance away from the couple.

“Yeah,” Seungmin huffed. “They’re always  _ something,  _ alright.”

Minho’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Always?”

Seungmin shrugged his shoulders. “Yeah. From the few encounters I’ve had with them as characters. I’ve been here a handful of times, I guess.”

“No kidding.” Minho commented to himself just before Seungmin held his hand out to him.

Minho did nothing but stare at it for a moment and Seungmin cleared his throat without retracting his hand.

“It feels weird  _ not  _ holding your hand at this point, okay?”

Minho smirked but took the other boy’s hand in his, anyway. If Seungmin had grown used to holding his hand and enjoyed it as much as Minho did, then who was he to deny Seungmin of holding his hand?

“Oh dear, how will you survive not holding my hand when we go back to our friends?” Minho teased him when they came to a stop at the end of the line for  _ Under The Sea.  _

Seungmin took a deep breath and stared back at Minho for a long moment.

“I’d rather not think about when that happens. Let’s just… Let’s enjoy the “now” while we can, yeah?”

Minho felt a pinch of sadness in his gut at Seungmin’s words. He knew that the other would at least  _ try  _ to figure something out if he wanted whatever  _ this  _ was between them to continue after they separated. And Minho had practically invited him to talk about it, but Seungmin deflected in the end.

“Come on. Line’s moving.” Seungmin muttered and pulled Minho further down the line with him.

‒ 

And ‘enjoy the now,’ they did. But time flies when you’re having fun…

And though Minho had known the time would come and had tried to prepare himself for it all afternoon, all good things must come to an end.

They stopped to rest on a bench that faced the river and Minho’s face fell when Seungmin’s phone started ringing in his pocket. Seungmin smiled at him apologetically and stood up to answer it.

Minho observed him with a pout as he crossed the short distance between them and a hand rail that looked out at the river.

“Yeah, I’ve been watching the time. I’m about to head that way. Yeah, uhm…”

Minho stopped listening because he knew the goodbye was coming. Instead, he chose to reminisce over the wonderfully packed afternoon he’d had with the other. 

Seungmin was, without a doubt, one of the best things and people Minho had ever experienced in his life. They’d held hands more often than not and rode on every possible attraction that usually appealed to the younger park guests. That wasn’t to say that Seungmin hadn’t tried his best to persuade Minho into riding the more thrilling ones. He’d tried his damnedest to convince the elder that if he could make it through the ride they met on, then he could  _ definitely  _ take on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

Minho gave in after he’d seen multiple children take their place in line for the ride, but looked apprehensive through the whole wait time. Seungmin didn’t bat a single eyelash when Minho changed his mind the moment they stepped near the loading zone.

“We don’t have to ride anything you don’t feel comfortable riding, Minho.” He reassured the older boy once they’d made it back out of the line.

Minho refused to meet Seungmin’s gaze, though. He was embarrassed by the fact that he’d chickened out on what looked more like a  _ children’s  _ ride!

But Seungmin never made fun of him. He never snickered at the way Minho’s hands shook when they were finally seated in the rides he’d braved in the end. Instead, Seungmin took hold of his shaking hands and whispered soothing words to the older boy until the ride began and the initial anxieties melted away. Minho hated that he felt that way before almost every single ride, but he was able to enjoy himself in the end thanks to the comforting boy by his side.

Minho fidgeted with the new pin on his jacket and smiled.

“Let’s stop here. I want to buy new pins!” Seungmin had said as he pulled Minho into a cute little shop on one of the street corners.

“Pins?” Minho questioned when Seungmin guided him through the shop as if he knew exactly where he was going.

And he supposed Seungmin  _ did  _ know exactly where he was going when they arrived in front of a large wall covered in hundreds of character pins to choose from.

“Whoa. There’s so many. Oh my god, Marie!” Minho exclaimed when he spotted a pin in the shape of the cute and sassy kitten from  _ Aristocats  _ .

He pulled it off the thin rack it was hanging from and ran his pointer finger over the cool enamel pin. “She’s one of my all time favorite characters. I even named one of my cats after her.”

“You have cats?” Seungmin asked while he searched through the wall of pins for one he might like to have, too.

Minho shook his head, “she lives with my parents. I don’t want one of my own until I find a place to settle down. So Marie is going to live with them until that happens.” There was a hint of sadness in his voice as he explained the situation.

Minho carefully placed the pretty pin back onto its rack when he was finished speaking. He wanted the pin, but he was still without his wallet, and Seungmin had already done enough for him that day. He wasn’t about to ask the other to buy him some silly souvenirs, too.

“Help me pick a dog one.” Seungmin requested suddenly.

Minho nodded, “well, which ones are there to choose from?” He asked, fully committed to the task bestowed upon him.

“Bolt.” Seungmin pointed to the mentioned pin and Minho shook his head.

“Pluto.”

Again, Minho shook his head.

“Tramp?”

“He’s too old.” Minho reasoned when he started shaking his head a third time.

“Percy‒”

Seungmin began to giggle when Minho scrunched his nose up at the choice.

“Hmm,” Seungmin browsed the pins for a few short seconds. “Lucky?”

Minho hummed with a short tilt of his head.

“That could work Yes. You’re definitely a Lucky.” He said, pulling down the cute dalmatian pin. “He’s a cute puppy, just like you.”

Seungmin smiled brightly at the analogy and Minho wondered if it was possible to fall in love with a person’s smile.

“Okay, it’s settled then.” Seungmin took the pin in one hand and Minho’s hand in the other and began to walk toward the checkout counter.

“Wait,” Seungmin paused to grab the Marie pin with the same hand that held his Lucky one.

“Seungmin, no… I don’t have my wallet with me and you’re not buying me anymore stuff!” Minho looked down with a pout on his lips, “I already lost the pretty sunflower you bought for me after we rode The Little Mermaid ride.”

_ “And  _ the Mickey Mouse balloon…” Seungmin reminded him with a fond yet teasing grin.

“That wasn’t even my faaaaault!” Minho’s frown deepened when he whined.

“You stepped on the balloon’s ribbon to re-tie your shoelaces… did you really think that it would stay there when you switched feet to tie the other one?” Seungmin questioned him, giggling as they walked up to the cash registers.

“Seungmiiiiin!” Minho whined quietly and tugged on the younger boy’s sleeve when he put both pins on the counter.

Seungmin turned his head to look at him while the cashier rang them up. All of the teasing disappeared from his expression and voice when he said, “you wanted selfies to remember me by… let me have this, okay?”

Minho’s smile faltered as his finger ghosted over the cat pin that was fastened over his heart.

Seungmin ended the call with his friends and Minho stood up when the younger made his way back to him.

“My friends need me to head their way now…” Seungmin said quietly when he was by Minho’s side again.

“Oh. O-Okay.” Minho said, staring past him and at the glittering river water instead.

“I uh… I had fun today.” Seungmin hushed, stepping closer into Minho’s space when the older boy failed to respond.

Minho wished he wouldn’t. Why did he have to come closer. Why did this hurt so bad? Why did he feel so sad about parting ways with someone he didn’t even know?

...Why did it feel like his heart was breaking over a boy he didn’t have time to fall in love with?

_ Unless…  _

No. He wasn’t going to let himself even  _ think  _ about that.

His fairy tale was coming to an end, and there was no happily ever after in the distance. 

“I had fun, too. Be safe, okay?”

“I will. You be safe, too, Minho.”

Minho ignored the sadness in Seungmin’s voice, it was already hard enough saying goodbye. He couldn’t cry. He wouldn’t.

He swallowed thickly and nodded without meeting Seungmin’s eyes. He was too afraid of what they held in them and how it might affect him if he looked now.

“Goodbye, Minho.”

“Bye, Seungmin…” 

_ It was enchanting to meet you. _

Neither boy reached out to take the other’s hand. Minho didn’t want to. He knew that if he held Seungmin’s hand one more time then he wouldn't be able to let him go. He just hoped that Seungmin didn’t do it for the same reason.

Minho bit his lip and stared down at the ground as the younger turned around to leave.

If his life was a movie, Minho imagined that this would be the part where sad music would begin to play in the background as he watched a potential love interest walk away. But it wasn’t a movie. And Minho was too much of a pessimistic coward to do anything about it.

“Hey, Minho?” 

Minho’s head snapped up. Seungmin had turned around and was walking back toward him with an expression that Minho had yet to see on the boy’s face.

Seungmin looked downright terrified. But what did he have to be scared of? Minho had been his most pleasant self throughout the whole day, even if he had teased him here and there, Seungmin would laugh and tease him back.

“If you find yourself free around eight… You should meet me around Main Street. I might be a little late, but if you could just wait for me there‒”

“Okay.” Minho agreed quickly.

“Really?”

Minho nodded his head a few times and curled his small fingers around Seungmin’s larger ones.

“You always agree so fast.” Seungmin blinked down at him.

Minho wanted to curse. Seungmin was doing that stupid attractive thing with his eyes, again, and his heart couldn’t take it. Especially when their ‘goodbye’ was turning into more of a ‘see you later,’ now. But he didn't dare let himself get too excited…

“Jeongin is always spouting off this ‘you only live once’ nonsense... I guess today’s one of those days I can go along with it.”

“I guess I have him to thank for another chance to see you, eh?”

“I’ll let you thank him in person, even.”

“Okay. Cool… Awesome.” Seungmin rubbed his thumbs over the side of either of Minho’s hands with a small smile. “Good.”

“Don’t you need to go?” Minho asked quietly when neither boy found it in them to look away from each other’s eyes.

Seungmin pouted for the first time in front of Minho and the older boy had to hold himself back from kissing it off his pretty lips. 

Minho took a mental pause as the realization sank in that he did, indeed, want to kiss Seungmin. 

“Yeah. I… I really have to go now. But don’t forget!” Seungmin reluctantly slipped his hands out of Minho’s and slowly began to walk backward. “Eight-ish. Main Street. I’ll come find you. Make sure to wait.”

Minho could only nod because he didn’t trust himself to speak. But he did smile. He smiled brightly and waved at the boy smiling back at him. And if his heart did a few somersaults in his chest when Seungmin waved back, that was his own business.

“What the  _ fuck  _ was that, Minho Lee?” 

Minho nearly shrieked when Changbin’s voice was suddenly in his ear.

Seungmin had only turned around  _ seconds  _ before Minho’s friends ambushed him by the bench the two of them sat on earlier.

“Jesus fucking Christ, you nearly gave me a heart attack you fucking dickhead!” Minho raised his voice, clutching his hand over the cold pin on his chest.

Jeongin stepped around the bench and pulled Minho down to sit next to him. “One, I’m so proud of you! Two, you  _ have  _ to tell me everything. Three, does he have any single friends?”

Chan snorted. “Jeongin, weren’t you complaining about not having time for a relationship just last week?”

Wooyoung lowered himself next to Minho and nudged the younger with his shoulder. “Did you get his phone number?”

Minho cast his eyes to the ground and shook his head.

Changbin choked, “W-wait… Hold up. You had him looking at you like you hung all of the fucking stars in the sky, but he didn’t give you his phone number?!”

Minho twisted his lips into an embarrassed pout. “He didn’t ask… or offer… I don’t know.”

“Well you don’t sound very sad about it?” Chan looked at him questioningly and leaned his back against the railing across from the bench.

“He uh…” Minho blushed from all of the attention on him. “He asked me to meet him along Main Street around eight tonight.”

“That’s only a couple of hours from now.” Wooyoung mused from beside him.

Minho hummed. “I’m just happy it wasn’t a goodbye forever.” he said quietly.

“Well, it certainly looked like it was about to be.” Jeongin pointed out.

“How much did you guys see?” Minho asked curiously. His ears burned at the thought of his friends having seen  _ any  _ of the entire exchange, but there was no changing it now.

“We saw you looking all pouty and pitiful when he was walking away, but then he stopped and turned around and… yeah.” Changbin recounted.

“It looked like a scene out of a movie.” Chan sighed dreamily before he straightened up. “So uh… we might have taken a few photos of you two when y’all were holding hands.”

Chan pulled his phone out and leaned forward to hand the device to Minho who quickly pulled up the photos in anticipation. His breath caught in his throat... The photos were absolutely stunning.

He ignored the voice in his head that tried to tell him that they looked like engagement photos and kept scrolling.

“W-We… we actually took a bunch of selfies right here, earlier this afternoon. Can you send these to me? All of them?” he asked when he handed the phone back to Chan.

“Sure thing, Min. But you have to promise that you won’t leave the park without getting his phone number.”

Minho scoffed and rolled his eyes at his friend, but said nothing.

“Well we still have a bit of daylight to kill. Who wants to go ride the Jungle Cruise?” Changbin asked enthusiastically and smiled brightly when all four of his friends agreed to go.

‒ 

“Slow down, Min! It’s only just now about to be eight. He said to wait for him, right? I doubt he’ll be there right on time.” Chan pulled on Minho’s arm to keep the younger from disappearing out of their sight.

“Plus the parade is about to start!” Jeongin informed them. “We should stand on a corner so he can find you easier than if we were halfway down the street.”

And so with Jeongin’s suggestion, they found an opening on a corner of Main Street right outside of a well lit restaurant. They watched cast members with glow sticks direct the traffic of park-goers that were on their way out of Magic Kingdom for the evening.

Just a few minutes after waiting, Minho heard the faint sound of music approaching them and saw the outlines of bright colorful floats rolling from around the corner. He began to search through the crowd of endless faces a little more frantically, then. But Seungmin was nowhere to be seen. And Minho had no idea what any of the other boy’s friends looked like, so he couldn’t search for them.

The parade music grew closer and Minho sighed. He supposed if Seungmin didn’t find him before the floats reached him, he’d just wait in the same spot until it was over. There was no use in trying to find someone when a bunch of flashy floats blocked your view and cast members in character costumes danced around the center of the street.

Soon enough, the first few floats rolled by. Tinkerbell led the way, oddly enough. And Minho found himself smiling at the memory of Peter Pan and the other fairy,  _ Terence,  _ from earlier that day.

“Uh… Minho…” Wooyoung knocked his elbow against Minho’s arm and Minho peered up at him curiously.

“What?”

“Did Seungmin ever say…” Wooyoung trailed off, eyes wide and disbelieving at whatever he was seeing.

Minho tried to follow the older boy’s line of sight but his eyes instantly landed on the scene of the same Peter Pan sword fighting the same Captain Hook he’d met just hours earlier.

“Wait, Minho‒” Jeongin started to say, but Changbin cut him off with a loud cackling laugh.

“Holy shit, Min. Look!” Changbin put his hands on either side of Minho’s cheeks and directed his face to look at the characters walking around the float rather than the main event  _ on  _ the float. 

His eyes widened and his heart dropped into his stomach when he finally saw what the others were seeing.

Because right there, right in front of him, was Seungmin dressed in a fashionable version of the second eldest Darling child’s costume.

Dark denim jeans tucked into pretty black boots, the signature long, white button-down shirt that came down to just above his knees, tastefully paired with a thin black belt around his waist; Seungmin looked  _ good.  _ Which Minho immediately deemed as unfair because he was playing the character of a  _ child. _ The glasses were another huge selling point, and they brought the outfit together nicely, but Minho admittedly hated the top hat. 

Seungmin was more of a beanie or beret kind of person in Minho’s opinion. And oh fuck—

“Minho, he’s coming this way!” Chan exclaimed excitedly when the characters began to break away from their ‘scene’ and interact with the crowd.

Minho instinctively took a step forward and then two more until he was off the sidewalk and meeting Seungmin in the street. But the parade didn’t stop for them, so he started speaking the moment the other boy was within earshot.

“You‒” Minho tried, but Seungmin cut him off before he could get another word out.

“I’m not a Prince, I know. But I—“

“No, shut up.” Minho covered the younger boy’s mouth and shook his head. It was hard to hear each other over the music and children’s screams around them, but Minho knew Seungmin was on a time crunch, so he spoke quickly.

“You are truly incredible, Seungmin. You’ve done nothing but amaze me time after time, and I’ve only known you for a handful of hours.” Minho dropped his hand and took one of Seungmin’s in it. “It’s like you’re mag‒”

“Minho, I need to go.” Seungmin bit his lip and dove his free hand into one of the pockets of his jeans. “Wait until the end of the parade and read this.”

He then pulled a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket and slipped it into Minho’s hand that wasn’t holding his own.

Minho’s heart lurched when the younger boy squeezed his hand before letting go of it altogether as he began to walk back toward his float.

“W-Wait!” Minho called out.

Seungmin’s steps faltered, but he didn’t stop walking away. He couldn’t. Minho  _ knew  _ that he couldn’t, but that didn’t stop him from feeling the desperate urge to keep Seungmin with him. He’d just gotten him back… He didn’t want to lose him again.

“The note.” Seungmin said over his shoulder, smiling softly while he walked backwards to his float. “Make sure you read it after!”

Minho nodded his head fervently and slipped the paper into his own pocket as he watched Seungmin walk away from him once more.

He kept his eyes on Seungmin’s retreating form until a new character danced his way back to the same float right in front of Minho and his friends.

_ Terence,  _ Minho’s brain recalled the fairy’s name as he gracefully danced by with a wink directed just to Minho’s left.

“Help, Min. I think I’m in love.” Changbin whispered loudly into his ear.

Minho’s eyes wandered back to the retreating float and watched it longingly until it disappeared from his sight.

_ Me too,  _ he thought before he turned his focus back to the rest of the loud parade.

He felt a little disappointed when The Little Mermaid’s float finally came through. The girl who played Ariel was someone different from the cast members Minho remembered meeting earlier, and there was no Prince Eric whatsoever. 

But he didn’t stay disappointed for too much longer, thanks to the parade coming to an end soon after.

“So,” Wooyoung began when the street was cleared of brightly lit floats and costumed dancers. Instead, it was packed with groups and families hastily making their way out of the park. “What did your  _ darling  _ Prince Charming give you?”

“I haven’t opened it yet.” Minho said, pulling the folded paper from his pocket.

He was very much aware that all of his friends were staring at him with their eyes full of anticipation, but he began opening it with a small sigh, anyway. There was no way he was going to get out of showing them its contents, so the faster he got it over with, the better.

“You don’t have to show us, Min.” Chan informed him softly when Minho’s fingers hesitated on the corner of the paper.

“Okay, but  _ I’m  _ curious.” Changbin admitted shyly.

“I don’t mind.” Minho said truthfully before he quickly opened it the rest of the way.

_ ‘When you wish upon a star _ __   
_ Makes no difference who you are _ _   
_ __ Anything your heart desires will come to you’

_ Wait for me. _

_ -Seungmin. _

“Th-That idiot. I’m not moving from this damn spot.” Minho stuttered after reading over the note several times.

“You want us to wait, or… Should we just go back to the hotel?” Changbin questioned while craning his neck to get a chance to read the small note.

Minho shoved the slip of paper into his pocket and turned to face him. “Do whatever you like. I can just take a bus back by myself if I end up staying alone.”

Changbin scratched the back of his neck and stared down at the pavement between them.

“Actually,” he began sheepishly, “I was going to see if his pixie friend would come around, too. If you’re waiting for that Seungmin-guy, that is.”

“Yeah,” Jeongin draped an arm around Changbin’s shoulders and sighed dreamily. “What about that Peter Pan, though? Can I get his number?”

Wooyoung and Chan laughed loudly when Minho began to shove the boys away from him. “Oh my god, no. Go away, all of you.  _ Shoo!”  _ The last thing he wanted was for them to be around for whatever kind of talk Seungmin wanted Minho to wait back for.  _ _

And ‘ _ shoo’  _ they did, but only across the street and into the busy ice cream parlor that was lit up like Christmas in the middle of August. 

Alone, Minho sat on the edge of the sidewalk. He couldn’t have been more than just a few steps away from where he’d met Seungmin during the parade, but he didn’t want to stray too far if Seungmin wanted to meet him in the same spot. And it wasn’t like he could inform the other of his location without having a way of contacting him.

He tilted his head back and stared up at the bright night sky above him. Wish upon a star? Minho couldn’t remember if he’d ever done such a thing when he was younger, but today had become a series of firsts… and he figured, what was one more first?

He searched the sky until he found what had to be the brightest star he’d ever seen and closed his eyes. The wish he made was small and simple, and maybe a tad bit selfish, but he hoped it would come true.

He checked the time on his phone every two minutes, and every two minutes eventually led up to half an hour… And, well, Minho began to have his doubts.

He stood from his spot on the edge of the sidewalk with a sigh. He didn’t want to assume that Seungmin had stood him up. Not just yet. The note said to wait for him, and the last time the younger man had asked as much, he’d stayed true to his word… even if he  _ did  _ appear before Minho in a less conventional way than the older ever imagined.

Minho stretched his arms above his head ‒ careful not to knock the ears off ‒ and glanced across the street. His friends were seated around a table with their desserts while they talked and laughed amongst themselves.

He lowered his arms with a small smile. He was truly grateful toward those four boys for letting him have the experiences he’d had today, and even now as they gave him the space he needed when it came to meeting up with Seungmin.

“Excuse me…” A familiar voice said behind him.

Minho whipped around with an apology ready for being in the person’s way, but it died on his tongue when his eyes landed on the boy behind him.

He was dressed in a different set of clothes, now. Gone was the costume and makeup, and his soft brown hair fell messily into his eyes. He looked even younger dressed in basketball shorts and a simple t-shirt, but Minho found himself feeling envious of how comfortable the other probably was.

“You’re staring.” Seungmin said quietly.

“I don’t know what to say.” Minho replied in a similar volume.

“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”

Minho pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and quickly turned around to make sure his friends were still across the street, but Seungmin was in front of him and blocking his view in a flash.

“You’re not, like… mad at me are you? I swear I wanted to tell you, but I thought you’d find it weird or silly, or… I don’t know.” Seungmin trailed off.

“You… I’m not mad.” Minho said with a gentle shake of his head.  **“** I just… I was starting to feel like you didn’t want this ‒ whatever the hell ‘this’ is between us.” Minho paused to take a deep breath and Seungmin waited patiently.

“But then you asked me to wait for you and I got my hopes up, only for you to show up for five damn seconds and‒”

“But I gave you the note…”

Minho nodded slowly. “But the moment you let go of my hand... it really felt like I was never going to see you again.”

The two of them stayed silent for a moment before Minho spoke up again.

“I hated that feeling. I hated it when we said goodbye by the river, and I hated it even more during the parade. And,  _ god  _ I sound like a middle school kid who crushes on the first person that treats them decently ‒ but I really felt something earlier… And it just seemed like you brushed it off or didn’t feel the same.”

“Minho,” Seungmin took the older’s hand into his own and waited for him to meet his eyes. “did you read the note?”

Minho’s eyebrows furrowed as he gave the other an incredulous look, “Of course I read it. I waited right here, didn't I?”

Seungmin ran his thumb over the back of Minho’s hand with a small smile on his lips.

“Minho, when’s the last time you wished upon a star?”

“Funny you should ask.” Minho breathed out and swallowed thickly. “What’s the likelihood of one coming true if I only made the wish half an hour ago?”

“Depends…” Seungmin whispered. “Do you believe in magic?”

_ Did he believe in magic? _

Upon arriving at the park earlier that morning, Minho would have said no. He didn’t believe in the stories and tales as old as time, the very idea of love at first sight was laughable, and ‘fate’ was a foreign concept he refused to see as anything more than a funny coincidence.

But now, as Minho’s heart threatened to beat right out of his chest, he supposed that maybe he should have a broader outlook on life. Now, as the crowd around them began to thin out and the clock tower struck the new hour, Minho’s entire day played through his head like a movie. From the moment he met Seungmin, his entire day had turned into something… well, something he could only pinpoint as bizarre. But the more he thought about it; from having a stranger calm him down from a potential panic attack, buying a meal for them to share, taking him to meet Princes and Princesses, and meeting almost every standard Minho had set for a potential significant other…

_ Seungmin appearing before him was like… well, it was something like magic  _ ...

They stared at each other for a long moment, just enjoying each other’s presence.

“Is this the part of the movie where we kiss while fireworks go off in the distance and shit?” Minho asked to break the silence, only half kidding. He didn’t care if there were fireworks, but he  _ did  _ want to kiss the boy in front of him.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Seungmin blinked and rolled his eyes once before settling his gaze on Minho’s lips. “Fireworks only happen in cheesy romantic comedies.” He finished and shifted his eyes back up to look into Minho’s.

A screeching whistle followed by a booming  _ pop!  _ jerked Minho out of his love stricken trance. He looked toward the castle with wide eyes as another round of beautiful fireworks set off. Just like he’d mentioned…

Looking back at Seungmin, Minho wasn’t sure what was louder between the fireworks and the sound of his heart pounding in his ears.

“Seungmin, I‒” 

Being on the sidewalk gave Minho an inch, and it was just enough to see eye to eye with Seungmin. But it also meant that he was in the way of passersby just trying to make it out of the park while corralling cranky and overexcited children that Minho felt bump against the back of his legs every now and then. But one particularly harsh shove sent him stumbling forward.

His arms instinctively looped around Seungmin’s neck while the other caught him around the waist to steady him.

“S- ...Sorry.” Minho gasped when he realized how close they were; their faces not even two inches apart.

... _ and maybe, just maybe, Minho wanted to believe. _

“I’m going to kiss you, now.” Seungmin hushed.

“Okay.” Minho breathed out and slipped his eyes shut just as the younger boy began to close the minuscule space between them.

Another round of fireworks shot into the sky behind the castle as their lips met and Minho’s heart soared along with them.

_ This,  _ Minho thought as the organ in his chest bounced around in time with the loud  _ pops  _ and whistles.  _ This  _ was what the fairy tales always portrayed as the cliche ‘true love’s first kiss.’ 

Something magical, wonderful.. and beautifully enchanting.

His fingers found their way into hair that felt just as soft as it looked, which had Seungmin smiling against his lips.

Minho slowly blinked his eyes open when they finally parted and he smiled up at the younger, hands still in his hair.

“Hi.” he whispered breathlessly.

“Hello there,” Seungmin said through a wide grin. “Have I ever mentioned that you have gorgeous eyes?”

Minho giggled and slid his hands down until his palms rested flat on Seungmin’s chest. “I think you might have mentioned it right before I said you have a gorgeous everything…” 

Seungmin’s smile softened and leaned his head back to just stare at the older boy in his arms for a short moment.

“I like you.” He said suddenly, “and I think I’ve liked you from the moment you turned around and looked at me in the line…”

Minho was quick to reply, “I like you, too. And uhh… My friend said I’m not allowed to leave the park until I get your phone number.”

Seungmin's smile widened once more and he pressed another short kiss to Minho’s lips. “It’s on the back of the note I gave you. I wrote it small, but it’s there.”

“What?!” Minho gasped, eyes wide. “No way! I totally stared at that paper for‒ hold on.”

Minho removed one of his hands from Seungmin to pull the note from his pocket, but stopped when Seungmin started to retract his own hands from around him.

“Don’t let go,” he whispered, “not yet.”

Seungmin’s smile was teasing, but warm, as he slid his hands back into place around Minho’s back and held him close.

“Oi! Stranger-dude! Get your hands off my best friend!”

Quickly ‒ much too quick for Minho’s liking ‒ Seungmin removed his hands and held them up in surrender as Changbin and the other three boys walked up to them.

“Seriously?” Minho muttered before he leaned his forehead against the front of Seungmin’s shoulder.

He particularly loved the over exaggerated and scandalized gasps he heard behind him, but his mind was drawn to how sturdy Seungmin felt against him, and how amazing he smelled.

“Minho… as nice as this is…” Seungmin began, sounding only somewhat threatened. “Your friends kind of scare me, and I want to make a good first impression.”

Minho huffed out a laugh against his chest, but made no move to put any distance between them. Instead, he brought his arms up and hugged Seungmin closer to him. "They already love you, don't worry." He whispered into Seungmin's shirt.

He welcomed Changbin’s choked protests, then, and began to laugh loudly when he heard Jeongin curse under his breath at his bold actions.

“Minhooo.” Seungmin whined softly into his ear.

“Fine, fine. Party poopers.” He relented and pulled away from Seungmin.

“This is  _ my  _ party.” Changbin informed him and puffed out his chest.

“Sit down, Binnie. Your birthday was last week.” Minho said while shaking his head with a fond smile.

“So. Are you going to introduce us?” Chan asked calmly.

“Uh, sure. Guys,” Minho gestured at Seungmin, “this is Seungmin, also known as the boy I spent the whole afternoon with after we got stuck on that ride together. He helped keep me from having a panic attack when the ride broke down, and he’s been such a gentleman to me ever since, too.”

“Right, well my name is Changbin. I’ve known Minho ever since he was still shitting in his diapers.” Changbin strode forward to shake Seungmin’s hand and leaned in to whisper, “Break his heart and I’ll break your arm.” in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“N-Noted.” Seungmin stuttered, only  _ slightly  _ terrified.

He calmed down when Jeongin held out a hand and introduced himself politely. Chan was much cooler about it than the other two, whereas Wooyoung decided to take the embarrassing parent role.

“So… does this mean you gave him your number?” He asked Seungmin as they let go from their handshake.

_ “Wooyoung…”  _ Minho rolled his eyes at his embarrassing friend.

“Technically, I did. But I want to put the number into his contacts myself, y’know?” Seungmin smiled shyly, “It kind of makes it feel all the more real if  _ I  _ do it.”

“Wow, you are such a fucking sap, Minnie.” A new voice spoke up behind Seungmin and it was  _ his  _ turn to grimace at the presence of his own friends.

“I think it’s sweet!” A lower voice ‒ one that Minho instantly recognized ‒ countered.

Three new boys came into view when Seungmin turned around. Three boys Minho recognized as Peter Pan, Terence the fairy, and Prince Eric from their encounters earlier in the day.

“You’re the Prince!” Minho exclaimed, causing said Prince to laugh out loud.

“Yeah, that’s me! And boy, am I glad to see  _ you.”  _ The cast member ‒ now dressed in casual clothes, like Seungmin ‒ said with a bright smile. “Seungmin wouldn’t shut up about you in our group chat literally the entire time you two were together.”

“God, you have no idea how bad I felt when I had to tear you two apart, earlier!” The boy that had played Peter spoke up. “He sounded so heartbroken over the phone. But I  _ did  _ invite you to the ‘party’ for a reason.” He finished with a wink.

The shortest of the three boys stepped forward to shake Minho’s hand. “We didn’t get to speak before, but I’ve heard nothing but lovely things about you.”

“Uh,” Minho heard Chan say in a confused tone and turned around to see all four of his friends staring at the three newcomers with stars in their eyes.

“Care to actually introduce your friends?” Minho asked Seungmin with a teasing grin. “I’d do the honors, but I only know them by their character names,  _ Darling.”  _

With a blush high on his cheeks, Seungmin coughed into his hand before he nodded, “Yeah sure, but can we walk and talk at the same time? I’m starving and that ice cream parlor looks mighty inviting right now.”

“Oh my gosh, I have my wallet now! I’m buying your ice cream and you’re not allowed to say otherwise!” Minho clapped his hands excitedly, glad that he was finally able to pay the other boy back in some way.

“Hmm,” Seungmin hummed and pretended to think about it over for a few seconds before saying, “how about we share a dessert and call it a date?”

Minho ignored the gagging noise ‒ whether it was made by his friends or Seungmin’s, he wasn’t sure ‒ and beamed at the younger boy.

“Okay. It’s a date.”

**|** _Literally not even ten minutes later... _**|**

“Say, you guys have any plans for tomorrow?” Peter ‒ who Seungmin had eventually introduced as one of his close friends and cast mates, Jisung ‒ asked while eyeing Jeongin.

“We’re supposed to be going to Animal Kingdom.” Changbin said shyly when Terence ‒ introduced as Felix ‒ looked at him with shining eyes. Changbin was a sucker for shiny things, and to say he was going through it when the leftover glitter on Felix’s cheeks shined under the glow of the ice cream parlor’s lights would be a vast understatement.

“We all have the day off tomorrow.” Prince Eric ‒ last but not least, introduced as Hyunjin ‒ informed them. 

Chan was quick to speak up, then. And with his most charming of smiles directed at the tall raven haired boy, no less. “We’d love to meet up and hang out with you guys, if you’d like to, that is.”

“I think we’d  _ love  _ to.” Seungmin answered for all of them, curling his fingers around Minho’s and looking down at the older boy with a small endearing smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are always appreciated!  
Twitter: @lovelyjjix  
CC: curiouscat.me/lovelyjjix
> 
> ***Seungmin is a regular everyday cast member for the most part, which means he has various jobs around the parks, but he's in training for more character parts. The character he plays in the parade is John Darling from _Peter Pan_, you can see what he looks like [here.](https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B1%2F6%2F0%2F3%2F2%2F16032565%5D%2Csizedata%5B850x600%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D) His costume was inspired by a Disney-bound version of the outfit.


End file.
